Howey in the Hills, FL-The Cleveland State men's golf team turned in a strong opening round on Saturday in the opening round of the Horizon League Championship tournament. The Vikings posted an even par 288 on Mission Inn Resort's El Campeon Course and sit in second place in the team standings. Wright State leads the ten-team field with a score of 6-under 280 on day one.

Brody Simms paced the Vikings on day one with a 3-under round of 69. Simms is tied for third in the individual standings and is two shots back of Wright State's Timmy Hollenbeck who leads the field after a 5-under 67. Simms started strong with a birdie on the par-5 opening hole and played steady golf throughout the front nine. He carded one bogey to finish with an even par total of 35 on the front side. He caught fire on the back nine, posting four birdies in a six-hole stretch on holes 10-15. The highlight of his round came on the 15^th hole as Simms nearly holed his tee shot on the 138-yard par-3 before finishing off a tap-in birdie. A bogey on 16 and back-to-back pars on 17 and 18 finished off a 3-under round of 34 on the back nine.

Andrew Kaye is also inside the top-10 after round one after posting an even par 72. Kaye posted matching nines of even par, with two birdies and two bogeys on each side. He took advantage of Mission Inn's par-5's as three of his four birdies came on the four par-5 holes.

Kaye finished 2-under on the par-5's which tied the second-best mark in the field. Simms tied for the best score in the field finishing 3-under for the day and Mason Frazier also finished 2-under on the par-5 holes. 

Frazier is in 16^th place after round one after posting a 1-over 73. He got off to a fast start carding an eagle on the opening hole and a birdie on the par-3 second. Frazier was one of five players in the field to card an eagle in round one. Three bogeys and a double bogey had him at 2-over through 13 holes, but he rebounded nicely with back-to-back birdies on holes 14 and 15 to post a strong finish at 1-over par.

Dillon Pendergast is right behind in 17^th place after posting a 2-over 74. Pendergast carded matching scores of 37 on both sides to finish at 2-over. He posted two birdies and two bogeys on the back nine to finish at even par over his final nine holes. 

Dominik Cosic is tied for 26^th at 4-over par after carding a 76 in the opening round. Cosic finished with two birdies on the day. 

The Vikings will tee off in the afternoon in tomorrow's second round after playing in the morning wave in the first round. Cleveland State will start on the 10^th tee at 12:50 p.m. with tee times every ten minutes.